Three-time Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy winner Laura Linney will star in a new Showtime series — billed as a comedy — focusing on a suburban wife and mother who is diagnosed with cancer, the cable network announced today.

Filming of the half-hour series, tentatively titled “The C Word,” is expected to begin this fall. Linney will also be an executive producer for the show.

“How one lives fully while being tested by the unpredictability of life, and what one learns in the process, is always filled with endless possibilities for an actor,” Linney said. “I am very excited to tackle such potentially rich, funny and complicated material.”

Roger Greenblatt, Showtime Networks president of entertainment, said Linney is the perfect actress to tackle such an unusual role.

“Cancer is not usually the subject of half-hour comedy, but Laura saw what we did in this complex show — a woman who gets a wake-up call that causes her to shake up her life and family,” Greenblatt said. “She will no doubt make this character both heartbreaking and disarmingly funny, and we’re thrilled that she has chosen this show for her foray into series television.”

Linney recently won Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for her work as Abigail Adams in the HBO miniseries “John Adams.” She was nominated for Oscars for her work in the films “Kinsey,” “You Can Count on Me” and “The Savages.”